Lost Ones
by GuardianSoulBlade
Summary: Gwen loses Kevin when he heroically sacrifices himself to save her. Trying her best to cope, she tries to move on, but finds it nearly impossible. A badly damaged Jason Todd is brought into her life, but will she move on? Batman Crossover AU.  Deadfic, being redone.
1. Deaths

**Lost Ones**

**_Summary:_**_ Gwen loses Kevin when he heroically sacrifices himself to save her. Trying her best to cope, she tries to move on, but finds it nearly impossible. A badly damaged young man is brought into her life, but will she move on? Batman Crossover AU._

_R.I.P Dwayne McDuffie, it's not fair you died because of complications from a surgery. All your fans will miss you. I started writing this on Tuesday, the day after he died, and I didn't even know he died, so this is very strange for me._

_Since everyone's complaining that Kevin's death scene is too short, I've made it longer and added some scenes before it._

**Deaths **

_Sarajevo, Bosnia_

Jason Todd groaned in agony. The pain was overwhelming. He wanted to pass out, to not feel anything anymore. He hit the floor again as the crowbar slammed into his face. His hands were tied and he couldn't move.

"Wow, that looked like it really hurt," Joker smirked, grinning evilly. He struck him over and over.

Whoa, hang on, that looked like it hurt a lot more," Joker tapped the crowbar in his hand. "So, let's try and clear this up, okay pumpkin? What hurts more, A?" Another strike. "Or B? Forehand, or backhand?"

Joker continued to relish this moment, he was actually going to be able to kill that arrogant little brat. The inhumanly brutal beating continued.

Jason lay on his back, his face down in his own blood on the concrete floor. His Robin uniform was torn and shredded and he was breathing hard.

Rolling over onto his side, he tried to say something, but his collapsed lung kept the words from getting out.

Joker maliciously mocked his attempts to speak, wheezing in a labored breath. "A little louder, lamb chop. I think you may have a collapsed lung. That always impedes the oratory."

Joker mockingly pulled Jason's head up a little so he could look at him. The Boy Wonder spat blood in his face. The murderous Clown Prince of Crime slammed his face back into the concrete.

"Now that was rude," Joker commented, removing a handkerchief and wiping the blood off his face. "At least the first boy blunder had some manners."

Jason managed to give him an evil, mocking grin.

"I suppose I'm going to have to teach you a lesson so you can better follow in his footsteps," Joker was thoughtful. "Nah, I'm gonna just keep hitting you with this crowbar."

Joker began crushing Jason's head with his foot as he raised the crowbar once again as he let loose a maniacal laugh. Jason shut his eyes and braced himself for the pain.

He didn't know how long it had been, but the beating stopped.

"Okay kiddo, I've gotta go. It's been fun though, right? Well, maybe a smidge more fun for me than you. I'm just guessing, since you're being awful quiet.

"Anyway, be a good boy. Finish your homework and be in bed by nine," Joker smirked. "And hey…please tell the big man I said, "Hello"." Joker pulled the hood up over his face and started laughing as he shut the door.

Jason opened his one good eye, the other was swollen shut. Blood dripped from his mouth and eyes. He managed to roll over onto his back and flip himself around so that he could get his cuffed wrists over his knees.

Somehow he managed to stand to his feet. He took a step forward and began to crawl to the door, desperately trying to escape. He knew Bruce would be there and open that door and take him to safety.

Jason grasped vainly at the door handle and tried to open it, only to discover it was locked.

He leaned back against the door hopelessly. He could only sit and watch the timer wind down and wait for the end.

_Bellwood, United States_

"Kevin? Kevin?" Gwen's beautiful voice asked him. The young Osmosian smiled and craned his head.

"What is it Gwen?" he asked.

"Are you all right?"

"Of course I am; why wouldn't I be?"

"You seem to be distracted," Gwen chided him, laughing. "Aren't you going to finish your birthday cake?"

"Yeah," Kevin replied, munching on the cake.

"Happy birthday," Gwen finished her own piece of cake and put the dish in the sink.

"Thanks."

"Gwen, if anything ever happens to me, I don't want you to be too sad about it, I want you to move on with your life and be happy without me."

"Why would you say something like that, on today of all times?" Gwen had to wonder what he meant. "Nothing bad is going to happen to you."

"It's getting worse Gwen, you may not see it, but it is, the Forever Knights aren't just trafficking in alien tech and weapons, they shipping drugs, and starting to kill Plumbers who come after them."

"Isn't that what they've always done?"

"No, they're really trying hard. They've even started using I.E.D.s*****. It used to be so simple, but the world's become darker, and any of us could die any day on this job."

"I know that, it's why I try my best to protect you," Gwen told him.

Their Plumber's badges started to go off.

"It's the Forever Knights," Ben Tennyson explained. "I'll send you both the coordinates."

The fight would be the same, the Forever Knights would come out guns blazing. Ben would use his alien transformations to defeat them. Everything would end with the bad guys defeated.

Maybe on other days but not today. The enemy had brought greater numbers and heavier weaponry.

Kevin and Gwen were running toward them. She was behind him and he was in front of her. It was in the blink of an eye, but he felt something sink down into the ground. He looked down and for a second, he thought he saw something. It was an improvised explosive device. He saw it too late.

"Gwen, get back!" Kevin screamed a warning as he pushed her aside from an oncoming blast. Agony ripped through him as fire coursed through his body.

The improvised explosive device had gone off and there was a horrible ringing in his ears. His head pounded and he was shocked he was still conscious, he felt the blood on his hands and saw that he was badly hurt.

The pain was unbearable, but she was safe and that was all that mattered. Ben was running toward him. Gwen scrambled to her feet and held him in her arms.

He coughed up blood, he tried to speak. Ben was at his side, encouraging him, trying to tell him he'd be okay.

"Ben, take care of Gwen…you have to promise me," he wheezed.

"I will," Ben told him.

"Kevin, you can't die! I won't let you die!" Gwen tried to heal him, desperately trying to keep him here with them. With her. They'd always known that what they did was dangerous. They always knew there was a chance they could die, but she never thought it'd be like this.

"Gwen…Gwen…" he tried to tell her goodbye, tried to get everything he wanted to say out, but he couldn't find the voice. The light was fading, it was time to go.

"Kevin! _Kevin!_" Gwen burst into tears and began screaming.

Ben wept too. It wasn't fair. Kevin had become a better person, a hero. He was his best friend, and now he was gone, they'd never see each other again.

They told Kevin's mother, and they all cried together. They had his funeral. They tried to cope and move on.

It had been six months since Kevin had died. Six months of being without him. Ben and Gwen resumed their "Normal" lives of school and missions, but every time they expected him to be there. Gwen would swear she heard his car driving by her house and pulling up into her driveway.

Ben half expected Kevin to make a snide remark or walk into his old garage to fix his car. It seemed unreal that he was gone and it seemed like he would come back.

Grandpa Max told the family he was going to Gotham City on business. He was meeting with the Plumbers in that city and despite its reputation for having a vigilante crime fighter and supervillains; he'd never seen any of it, thankfully.

He was driving down the highway just outside the Gotham Cemetery when he saw a figure wandering down the road.

"Oh my!" Max Tennyson shouted, slamming on the brakes of his RV, he stopped and got out of the van, he ran to the young man's side.

"Easy kid, what happened to you? What's your name?"

"Jason…" The boy answered.

"Jason, don't worry, you're going to be fine," Max reassured him.

"Bruce, where's Bruce?"

"Is that your dad kid? We'll get you some help soon." He called 911 and the EMTs came to get him. They were just as surprised as Max was.

You're one lucky kid," an EMT said as he loaded Jason onto a stretcher.

Jason felt consciousness leaving him, he heard a voice, was that Bruce? Had he come to save him after all? "Bruce… Bruce… Bruce… Bruce…" he whispered, then the world became dark and he knew no more.

They took him to a hospital and put him on life support. The doctors were startled at his injuries, how could a kid survive like this? "He's in a coma?" a doctor asked. "I thought he found him on foot."

"A fractured skull. It caused a brain bleed or some damn thing. They're not even sure if he's brain dead or not," another doctor replied.

"What's this about flash burns?"

"It looks like he was in some explosion or—"

"—And then what? They dressed him in a suit and buried him someplace?" the man asked. This was all very hard to believe. He was surprised they hadn't declared their nameless John Doe dead already. He was practically dead.

"And he dug himself out. Apparently through dirt and wood. I wanted to run the wood slivers but we lost anything usable when they were working on him."

"So the kid was beaten with some kind of metal pipe, cracked his skull, shattered his sternum, collapsed a lung…about forty other fractures."

"Blown up, then buried?" the other man asked.

"Yeah. And he's still alive."

"God Almighty, like freakin' Rasputin," the man exclaimed.

"More like Lazarus," the other said. "He kept asking for "Bruce." He say who it was?"

"Yeah, just before he went under. He said it was his father."

"What's going to happen to the boy?" Max asked, he'd overheard the conversation and since he was the one who brought him in he wanted to help.

"We were going to put him into a convalescent home," the doctor told him.

"I'll take him back with me, my home town has some excellent medical facilities, hopefully, they'll be able to help him."

"All right, don't worry about a thing Jason, I'll help you somehow."

Max Tennyson pulled up to the house, he was going to take Jason to the Bellwood hospital, but perhaps Gwen could help him, she could read auras and maybe she could figure out what happened to him.

"Grandpa you're home!" Gwen exclaimed running to him.

"Hey Pumpkin, so happy to see you!" Max smiled giving her a hug. He saw her smile, it was a surprise.

"Listen, I need you guys to help me with something," he said, Ben ran up to them and he hugged his grandson, he led them to the trailer.

"I found him wandering in the middle of the road. He was half dead. They said he was beaten with some kind of metal pipe and in some kind of explosion."

"Grandpa, no one would be able to _survive_ that," Ben stated.

"Gwen, do you think there's anything you can do for him?" Max asked.

"What is his name?" she looked over at the figure in the RV.

"Before he lost consciousness, he said his name was Jason."

Max gasped, the boy had woken up. His eyes shifted from Max to Ben to Gwen. Jason looked at her blankly. His eyes seemed empty, but she knew there were some signs of life in him.

It was strange; he couldn't have been more than sixteen. She wondered what could have happened to him and how he'd gotten hurt so bad. She wanted to help him; Jason also resembled Kevin with his dark hair and build. But his eyes were different; instead of being obsidian like Kevin's his eyes were a lighter shade of green than her own. He seemed like the athletic type, and he seemed to be the type who could take care of himself but who could have beaten him so bad he had brain damage?

She quietly took his hand in hers, he gave it a squeeze. She smiled.

"You're going to be okay, Jason. I'm going to fix you. You'll be all right, I promise. I'll get you back the way you were. We'll all help you, I'm sure once you get better and you can talk, we'll be able to get you back to your family.

Gwen reached out with her sixth sense, she could sense that his mental state as that of a catatonic person. He might have been awake, but his mind and emotions weren't very responsive. But by no means was he stupid, he could understand her and even though he didn't exude emotions, he was still there.

It broke her heart that he couldn't speak, that he couldn't talk to her and that he had emotions that he couldn't express. Her heart was moved with pity. He was too much like her Kevin and yet he was not.

She decided she would get started right away, she hoped to restore him to a normal life. He gave her something to live for outside of saving the world and helping her cousin. If Kevin were here, he'd want to help him too.

"I'll have to search through my spellbooks, but maybe I'll be able to help him come back."

Gwen didn't know that it would take her three years to restore Jason's mind.

**_Author's Note: _**_I wrote this because Kevin reminds me of a tame version of Jason Todd. He's Jason if he had friends and didn't kill. I love Gwevin and all but this idea just fascinates me for some reason. _

**_*_**_ Improvised Explosive Device. I know about those, and it's very, very bad._


	2. The First Step

**First Steps**

Jason Todd continued to stare blankly out the window of the Levin house. They'd taken him to the hospital, the doctors said that his body was healthy and that he could go home, but they couldn't figure out what had become of his mental state, by all accounts he should be a healthy teenager.

Mrs. Levin had adopted him as her own son, as he had no family and nowhere to go. Kevin was gone, but Jason had come into their lives.

Gwen Tennyson frowned; she'd been studying every magic book and consulted her grandmother. It had taken three years but she'd finally found a way to cure him.

Gwen placed a hand on his forehead and began concentrating. She could use her powers to heal his mind, it had taken years, but she'd finally mastered her power over Manna. She felt something in his mind click and his eyes became bright and lively.

"Gwen?" Jason asked a little hesitancy in his voice.

"Jason, are you all right?" Gwen stared at him, amazed that it had actually worked.

"Yes, I'm fine," Jason told her quietly, taking in her appearance. She and Ben had visited him every day for three years. All that time he could understand and listen, but his ability to communicate and feel emotions had been lost to him, now here he was, restored and whole again.

Gwen Tennyson, he had to admit, she was beautiful; her red hair accentuated her emerald eyes. She didn't have the body of a supermodel, but he was certain she could have her pick of handsome guys. Jason thought Gwen reminded him of Barbara, fiery and independent, her free spirit and sincerity. He wondered why he'd never seen her with a boyfriend.

Ben walked into the room, "Gwen? Did you fix him?"

"Yes, he's fine now," Gwen smiled.

"Ben, Gwen, thank you," Jason told them. "I really don't know what I'd do without you two."

"Let's go to Mr. Smoothies," Ben suggested, they went and had a great time talking and laughing. Jason Todd decided not to tell them about his involvement with Batman, instead he just told them that he was from Gotham City, that he grew up on the streets and that his mother had died of cancer.

They offered their support and Ben even offered him a place in the Plumbers. Jason told him he'd think about it, in truth, he was unsure of what he should do next. He wanted to discover what had become of Batman while he was gone and he wanted to find out if Joker was dead.

Jason had spent months looking for answers. He'd obtained his death certificate and looked up old headlines written shortly after his death. He put it all together.

But what pushed him over the edge was a headline, "Batman Returns Joker to Police Custody."

"You little son of a bitch!" Jason screamed, smashing his fist into the mirror. He wanted to throw something, vent his anger. He grabbed the small television set and hurled it into the wall.

Ben and Gwen rushed into the room; the cousins grabbed his shoulders and tried to calm him down.

"Jason, what's wrong?" Ben asked. "We can help you."

"Jason, talk to us, tell us what's got you so upset."

"I'll kill him! I'll kill Joker, I swear!" Jason snarled. "How could he let him live? Still free to maim and murder. I'll kill him!"

"You're not going to do that," Ben warned sternly. Just calm down, Jason."

Gwen saw him begin to cry, she'd never seen him like this before. "Come on outside, we'll talk about it." She led him out of the room.

Ben frowned in confusion. He'd noticed this piece of a newspaper clipping on the floor when he and Gwen had entered the room to find him railing and screaming enraged obscenities.

"Batman Returns Joker to Police Custody," Ben read aloud. "I wonder why he was reading this."

"_I'll kill him! I'll kill Joker, I swear!"_ Ben might have been immature and goofy at times, but he knew a real threat from someone just saying things out of a blind rage. But still, to make a threat against someone as high profile as the Joker, it seemed outlandish.

It seemed that he was going to have to do some digging on Jason, find out if he had some kind of connection to the Joker, maybe the maniac killed his family. It wasn't a too far-fetched idea either. Joker had murdered thousands of people. Still, it could be difficult, he didn't even know Jason's last name.

He looked around and saw a death certificate, unfortunately the top half had been torn off and part of the surname was missing, but the name Jason Peter still remained, maybe it was part of Jason's full name.

He took out his digital camera and photographed the death certificate and newspaper clippings. He'd take them to Cooper, maybe he'd be able to find out something.

Ben got in his car and drove to Cooper Daniels house.

"Cooper, do you think you could help me with something?" Ben asked.

"Sure, what is it?"

"I want you to look at these pictures, find me any information you can about Jason."

"All right," Cooper replied. "I'll get on it right away."

Cooper began reading what Ben had brought him. He decided to investigate, because he too was curious about Jason's past. It might be a challenge, but Cooper didn't mind. He did enjoy challenges.

* * *

Gwen was trying her best to comfort Jason. He had stopped crying and was breathing steadily now. She noticed he kept grinding his teeth.

"Don't you want to talk about it?" Gwen asked.

"No, I'm not ready; I don't want to talk about it."

"How do you expect me to help you then?"

"Just don't worry about me," Jason turned away from her. What was he supposed to do? He couldn't just stand by and let that lunatic just run wild, killing and maiming as he pleased could he?

"Let's go, maybe if we go somewhere it'll help you take your mind off of whatever's bothering you," Gwen smiled.

"Where are we going?" Jason queried.

"I have a taekwondo tournament today; do you want to go with me?"

"Yes," Jason smiled, something piqued his interest. He had to wonder just how good she was. "Sounds fun."

"Ben we'll meet us there," Gwen told him. They got into a car and he sat down. They began driving toward the martial arts studio when Jason turned to her.

"So, is this your car?" Jason looked around; it was definitely a high tech toy. Not nearly as fancy as Bruce's Batmobile, but he figured it had some nice toys in it.

"This was my late boyfriend's car. Kevin loved this thing. He called it his ride and we always drove it, whether we were on duty or not."

"What happened to him?" Jason asked.

"He died three and a half years ago, he protected me and I couldn't save him. I thought I could save him and I tried so hard, but he's gone now and it's my fault."

_I see, I wonder if that's what Bruce thought when he lost me, _Jason put a hand on her shoulder. "You tried your best, that's all you could do. He died a hero and he was a good person."

"Look at me, I'm a mess and I'm crying," Gwen wiped her eyes.

"Hey, you'll be okay," Jason smiled weakly. They arrived at their destination and got out of the car.

Entering the building, Jason took a seat on the bleachers and saw Gwen leave the room to change.

Jason saw Ben Tennyson arrive and the young hero joined him. The sparring rounds began and they both watched as Gwen soundly defeated her opponents.

_She's good. Very good, _Jason thought admirably. _Not nearly as good as I am but she'd give me a run for my money._

Her techniques were flawless and effortless, every move was precisely calculated and she was well aware of her opponent and surroundings. She was a well known hero, not nearly as much as Ben, but it did take a lot to impress him and she'd definitely caught his eye.

He was impressed that she was able to fight for so long, she fought using everything she had and she was very skilled.

During his tenure as Robin, he'd never really had time for girls, being a busy crime fighter didn't give him a lot of free time to go on dates. Now he was free of that lifestyle and had time to actually have a relationship with a girl.

He remembered how Gwen had once told him what she had liked about Kevin, that he was handsome and likable. She also seemed to like men with a good upbringing with good education. Jason secretly smiled, he fit the bill. He had the finest education money could buy, being the ward of Bruce Wayne and being trained as Robin, he could make straight As without much effort and he was definitely a stunning young man. He'd noticed all the stares from the girls who were in the building, they'd come up to Gwen and asked where he'd come from.

Jason was strong and athletic, his body built like an Olympic competitor. He'd grown some since he'd come back to life, and stood at six foot tall, and about 225 pounds of muscle and sinew. His body was built like that of an army soldier, and he knew he would have to prepare himself for the war that he would have to return to. He was the very peak of human perfection and one day, he was going to return to the hero business.

Gwen dropped him off at his house, saying she had to do some homework. Jason Todd went into his room and turned on his computer. He'd been spending his time amassing a small fortune so he could acquire the toys he'd need to wage war on the criminal. Sure Gwen and Ben could stop the aliens and monsters, but what about all the common criminals that escaped his knowledge, he decided he'd handle them.

Still, he needed an identity, hmm, that was going to be difficult. He began searching and looking for a symbol that would remind him of the past while being an imposing figure to strike fear into criminals.

He remembered that one of the possible identities of the Joker was that of a mysterious criminal calling himself the Red Hood. He gazed at the old clipping of the figure in the suit and the domed helmet. He decided, he'd found his new purpose in life, if he got revenge along the way he'd be happy with it.

His thoughts turned to Gwen, why was he thinking about her all of a sudden? Jason sighed, he was doing this for her, she deserved to live in a safe city, and she shouldn't have to worry about criminals breaking into her house while she and Ben defeated monsters and aliens.

Yes, he would do all this for her, he didn't feel obsessed with revenge or the urge to kill so much now, but he knew that if he ever tried to leave Bellwood they would no doubt track him down and try to stop him. Although he was very confused by Bruce's decision to spare Joker, he decided that vengeance would be secondary to establishing an identity for himself

* * *

Gwen was finished with homework and was going back into town. She had karate lesions and she couldn't miss those.

She walked in and to her surprise, saw Jason sparring with her teacher.

Her gaze was riveted to them. Jason was not mimicking her movements, he had been trained, she didn't know where, but he was good. She turned and headed off to change into her karategi, her karate uniform.

"You think you could teach me things I don't know?" Jason inquired.

"Kid, I don't need to teach you anything, _you_ could teach _me_," the man told him.

"I'm talking about techniques that you won't teach your other students," Jason said simply.

"I'm not going to teach them or you anything that could get you into trouble."

"Like how I could crush someone's neck with my full weight or stomp their nose into their brainpan."

"How would a nice guy like you know about nasty stuff like that?" he asked.

"Not your business," Jason scowled.

"Come on, don't play cute with me, I know who you are, or who you used to be anyway."

"And how would you know something like that?" Jason asked.

"I'd be an idiot if I didn't recognize the boy who beat the crap out of me after breaking up my weapons smuggling ring."

"How does a former gun runner become a karate teacher?"

"Fixed up my life, I decided I wanted to help people stay out of trouble."

"Well good for you then," Jason muttered. He turned and began walking out, he didn't see Gwen, who had headed into the other room to change, but she'd heard most of the conversation.

"I have to say, I liked you more when I first saw you in Gotham," he told Jason.

Gwen was about to go back into the room when she stopped to listen to what they were saying.

"Humph," Jason grunted.

"While you and Bats beat the crap out of me and my goons, you were smiling and laughing the entire time. Maybe you should cheer up a little, it would do you good."

"What do I have to be cheerful about?"

"You have a good life here, you have friends and they care about you. As for Gwen, well, I haven't seen her get close to a boy since she dated Kevin Levin."

"What makes you say that?"

"Come on, ever since Kevin died, all the boys in this place have been trying to get her to date them, but she's always turned them down. You're the only one I've seen her spend time with who wasn't her cousin Ben."

"Whoop-de-flippin'-doo," Jason said sarcastically.

"Don't be so insulting, she's a good girl."

"Good girls don't go for guys like me, they like nice guys like my predecessor."

"So you really _were_ him weren't you?"

"Maybe, but he's long gone now," Jason said, he walked out of the building.

Gwen was confused by the conversation, but didn't say anything about what she'd heard. Still, Jason was proving to be quite the puzzle, and she intended to solve it and figure him out.

* * *

Cooper was busy looking into Jason's past, it was very difficult because the name Jason Peter wasn't showing up in any database anywhere, and it was becoming difficult to find information on him.

He decided to look up information on the death certificate and finally, he found some results.

Jason Peter Todd had died on April 27th, 2008 in an explosion in Sarajevo. Batman and Robin had been sighted there, but Robin mysteriously vanished.

He began putting pieces together, researching Jason Todd and found court records from when he became Bruce Wayne's ward and correlated them to when Robin appeared.

He came to the conclusion, Jason Todd was Robin, he didn't understand how he could have come back to life, but he was also researching ways to bring people back so they could resurrect Kevin.

He began searching for techniques to raise the dead, but all he found were nonsense and mumble jumbo. Except for one information source, he wasn't sure where the information was from. What it said was too good to be true. Cooper stared at the information in shock.

_The Lazarus Pit has been known to rejuvenate the living, and possibly, raise the dead back to life._

Could it possibly be true? Maybe there was a way to bring Kevin back after all.


	3. Higher Learning

**Higher Learning**

Cooper had called Ben over to his house, supposedly to talk Plumbers business but in fact he had new information on Jason.

"I'm starting to believe that Jason is or was at one time, Robin the Boy Wonder," Cooper told Ben, who just gaped at him in surprise, Jason, a big shot hero? It seemed insane.

"I've done a lot of research, Batman and Robin were in Sarajevo chasing Joker, Jason Todd was there as Robin and Joker killed him."

"But if he died, how did he come back?" Ben asked. People didn't just get out of their graves and walk off."

"He could have, how else do you explain why your grandfather found him wandering on the road?"

Ben didn't have an answer for that.

"But Batman and Robin could be anyone, why do you think Jason is Robin? Is Todd his last name or something?"

'Yes, he was born as Jason Peter Todd and he met Batman during his time on the street."

"You have proof?"

"Just old footage and the theory that there's a resemblance," Cooper said, but I hacked a nonexistent database that contained Jason's death certificate that did not exist on record anywhere else."

"So you're saying Jason's last name is Todd and that he's the foster son of Bruce Wayne, and he's also Robin, he died, and he's not a zombie and he's not dead. Does that mean Bruce Wayne's Batman?"

"I can't confirm that, but Bruce Wayne was there on business and his foster son Jason died in an explosion. Robin disappeared around that time and it's too much of a coincidence to just ignore."

"I just find this hard to believe," Ben said skeptically. "If I ask him, he'd probably deny it."

"I'm right about this and one day, you'll be proven wrong about it," Cooper told him.

"I'll buy you smoothies for a month if that happens," Ben told him.

"I'll hold you to that, I'll not keep you long, I have a bunch of research to do," Cooper turned back to his computer. Ben left, he had to head to Gwen's school for the art display.

* * *

Jason had told Gwen that he was looking for something for his homework since he had started attending her high school. In truth, he was curious about her and decided to rifle through her things.

"Oho, what's this?" Jason frowned; he'd been searching for something in Gwen's room when he'd stumbled upon a small box with the label, Lucky Girl on it. A quick web search and he found footage dating a few years back and chuckled, so she'd dabbled a bit in the hero business too, but as far as he could tell she was living a normal life.

He returned the box to its place and left the room. The girl was full of surprises.

It was a busy day at Gwen's school. She'd finished her art project, it was a painting, and the only requirement was that it be based on something in real life. Jason had started going to her school and was also in her art class.

Ben had come over to see her art piece, it was nice and excellently painted still life, but he noticed that everyone was gathered in the center of the room.

In the middle, under a large display were the words "The Death of Robin", with the most brutal painting Ben had ever seen in his life.

The painting was vivid, but for all the wrong reasons. It depicted the very infamous Joker, cackling gleefully over Robin, who was sprawled out on the ground, hands bound behind his back, his face bleeding profusely. In the Joker's hands was a crowbar.

So Cooper's suspicions were right, that was how he died. The detail was disturbing, but what broke his heart the most was the hopeless expression that was depicted on Robin's face. Another thought hit him, even if Jason hadn't died, he might have become a vegetable. He could possibly believe Cooper's findings, but he wasn't quite sure. The whole coming back to life thing was a really hard pill to swallow.

He heard the reactions of the viewers and they were just as disturbing as the painting.

"I can't believe Jason painted this, it's a diss to Robin."

"Yeah, tough guy like him can't die, Robin's invincible."

"Robin's a strong hero, not a pathetic wimp like this."

"No way the Joker could ever get Robin, Jason's crazy."

"Ben, did he tell you this was what he was painting?" Gwen asked, disturbed by the artwork as much as he was.

Gwen looked over at Jason and noticed he was visibly trembling, unexpectedly, he ran from the room.

Gwen and Ben ran after him, they were both doing their best to keep up and followed him across town, into the pond where Grandpa Max liked to fish.

Jason was breaking anything that could possibly be broken, mainly trees and anything else in the environment that could be smashed by hand.

"What do they know?" Jason roared to no one in particular, he knew they had followed him and he knew why, but at the moment he didn't care.

"I was a hero, I did good things, and even after I die, they don't remember me and my work, they remember Grayson, and all the things he did as Robin! I hate having to fill his shoes just because I'm not the perfect little soldier who does all the right things! I'm not a replacement goldfish, dammit! And Bruce, that stuck-up, self righteous hypocrite, letting Joker live, even after he _murdered_ me, I can't believe I'm wasting my time with either of them. What does _she_ know about my life, pretending she cares about me; she just wants a replacement boyfriend to waste her time with, whenever I get the chance, I should just leave and go kill him! I should kill both of them, this is all their fault. If Batman had put that _animal _down, I wouldn't be in this mess!"

Gwen was visibly shocked by this, so was Ben, Jason's temper was worse than he suspected; he had to wonder what Batman was thinking making him Robin.

"Jason, is that what you believe? That I'm wasting your time?" Gwen looked at him; her voice breaking, she was trying to keep herself from crying in front of him. Jason turned, realizing what he'd said, trying to come up with an answer; he couldn't find a good one.

"Is it true, Jason? You used to be Robin and the Joker killed you?" Gwen asked, no nonsense, no fluff.

"Yes," he said. "But I came back, and now I have to stop him the only way that will work."

"Killing him might make you feel better, but what if someone brings him back to life? What would it solve?"

"He wouldn't kill anymore, that's a good thing."

"You're a brash, hotheaded idiot!" she said sternly.

"She's right, Jason, killing Joker wouldn't do anything, not to mention Batman would probably beat the crap out of you," Ben said. Jason hated to admit the boy was probably right.

"Jason, please keep in mind, I won't let you skip town to go kill the Joker, if you try, I will stop you," Ben crossed his arms and gave him a hard look. Jason knew he was quite serious.

"I'll try to keep my temper in check," Jason conceded. He really did want to control his temper, but he would get so angry, that his mind would snap.

"Also, you owe Gwen and apology, she spent three years trying to fix you so don't say anything about her wasting her time ever again."

Jason was shocked, he didn't know that. It just made him want to take his words back all the more. He got to his feet and muttered a half hearted apology. He then walked away.

Jason's mind spun, he'd been developing feelings for Gwen ever since she'd cured his mind. He wanted to tell her, but he tended to lose his temper a lot and he thought she'd think it was silly if he told her he loved her. He decided that he'd give her a real apology tomorrow.

The next day he found Gwen in his adoptive mother's garage, she was crying.

"Gwen, I want to say about yesterday, I really am sorry. Did what I say upset you so much?" he asked.

"No, Jason, it's not you, I forgive you and all, but Kevin died today, and it's been four years. And it's his birthday too."

"You loved him, didn't you?"

"Yes, and I told him so." She wiped her eyes.

"Jason, I tried so hard to save him! I could have kept him from dying, it's my fault he's gone, and I miss him so much!" She threw herself into his arms.

"I know that baby, you did everything you could, it's not your fault," Jason whispered.

He didn't even think twice. He bent down and kissed her.

Her arms snaked around his waist and she held onto him, desperately.

"Hey, you're going to be okay," Jason soothed, wiping her tears and smiling a little.

"He told me that if anything happened to him, I should move on and be happy," she sighed, "But I don't know if I can."

"He would want you to be happy, don't feel bad about that," Jason reassured her,

"Gwen, everything's going to be fine," Jason embraced her, feeling her soft breathing as she calmed down. How he wished that he had known her years ago, if he'd had friends like her and Ben, he could have been a better hero, a better Robin, he might have been able to keep these terrible things from happening to her.

"Jason, thank you," Gwen whispered.

"Gwen," he looked down at her.

"What?"

"I love you."

Gwen knew he meant every word and he was sincere. She sensed all the turmoil and confusion inside him.

"Jason…" Gwen ran her fingers through his hair.

"You're an angel, you know that? If it wasn't for you, I think I would go crazy."

They held each other for a long time; he sat down and lazily put an arm around her shoulder. After a few minutes, he stood up and helped Gwen to her feet.

"Can I ask you a serious question?" Gwen looked up at him.

"Ask me anything."

"So, what would happen if you did kill him?" she asked.

"Hmm?"

"If you killed Joker, and for some reason Batman never caught you, what would you do?"

"I'm not sure."

"You never do think things through do you?"

"Oh I do, I do," he replied.

"You might be able to plan things, but you don't ever think about the consequences of your actions do you?"

"What could be bad about killing a piece of scum like him?"

"Batman would catch you, you'd go to jail."

"I can escape jail," he said.

"You don't get it do you? Do you realize how this affects your friends, Ben, me, Cooper?"

"You keep talking like it's so hard not to kill just one bad person," Jason scowled.

"Jason, it's too easy, I can kill, Ben can kill, sometimes it seems like killing is the only option, but it's not," Gwen put a hand on his shoulder.

"What would a good girl like you now about something like that?"

"A long time ago, Ben wanted to kill Kevin Levin, my boyfriend and his best friend. We were trying to stop Aggregor and Kevin used his powers as an Osmosian to drain Aggregor and stop him, but Kevin went insane because he absorbed too much energy. He went on a rampage and went after anyone who had ever wronged him. Ben thought the only way to stop him was to kill him; I wanted to restore Kevin to normal. We even fought each other over it, but in the end, Kevin was restored to normal and everything returned to the way it was."

"You're lucky Gwen, what happened was a fluke."

"If Ben had murdered Kevin, he wouldn't have been alive to save me, and I would have died. Will you think about that for a moment?"

It did make sense; if Kevin had been killed by Ben he wouldn't have been able to sacrifice himself for Gwen to protect her. She would have died and wouldn't have been able to restore his mind.

"Even if what you say is true, it doesn't change the fact that I'm angry."

"Of course it doesn't, but I want to help you," Gwen smiled.

"You make it sound like I'm sick or something," Jason's voice was filled with resentment.

"I never meant that—" Gwen protested.

Jason crushed his mouth to hers, cutting her off, he let her go after a minute.

"I swear you're bipolar," Gwen told him. She hadn't let a boy hug and kiss her since Kevin died. It felt nice and Jason was a sweet boy, he was also a likable guy and she was fascinated by his days as Robin, she wanted to ask him about it, but she didn't think it was time yet. Still, she was troubled by his angry streaks and that like Kevin; he didn't think it was wrong to kill people he thought were bad.

"I hope not," he smirked.

"Jason, if you keep lashing out at people, it will get you killed," she warned.

"Are you lecturing me?" he asked, the irritation in his voice was obvious but she wasn't so self righteous like Bruce that he completely tuned her out, unlike Bruce, she actually took time to listen to him, and he felt like he could talk to her.

"No, I'm giving you advice as your friend," Gwen told him. "I've already lost Kevin; I don't want to lose you too."

"Thanks," he told her. He truly began to think over what she said to him.

Gwen decided to change the subject, so he wouldn't start brooding.

"So tell me, how good is my martial arts?" Gwen inquired. She'd heard that the Dynamic Duo were very skilled martial artists, the best in the entire world.

"You couldn't beat me if it came down to an actual fight, Gwen," Jason told her. She looked crestfallen.

He smiled, pulling her close, he edged her back against the wall of the Levin garage, "But you'd give me a good run for my money."

"Nice to know I do have some talent, Jason," she smiled.

"That you do," Jason whispered, his mouth finding hers, "You have plenty of talents."

"You know, I did try a vigilante stunt once, but it didn't work out that well."

"Why don't you tell me all about it?" Jason smiled.

"No thank you," she grinned and gently pushed him away, she walked away, leaving him alone.

"Best of luck to you, Lucky Girl," he laughed.

Gwen blushed, "How'd you know?"

"I am the protégé of the World's Greatest Detective, I can find out all your secrets."

"Well, Boy Wonder, I'll see you tomorrow," she walked away.

Jason smiled; his life wasn't so bad after all. He began to make preparations, he had a lot of training to do, and fortunately he had plenty of time.

* * *

It was late at night and a dark figure looked down at Kevin Levin's grave. A shovel pierced the dirt and began digging. After an hour, Kevin's casket was revealed.

"It's time for you to come back to us."


	4. After School Activities

**After School Activities**

_**Author's Notes: **__ Sorry this took so long, I wanted to finish and update yesterday, but bad weather and thunderstorms wouldn't let me, due to the fact that I don't want my computer to fry._

* * *

_The light in his eyes was fading. She was trying desperately to keep him with her. Her powers should have been enough but she was panicking. _

_She couldn't keep her concentration and he was losing too much blood. Kevin was going to die! Gwen tried harder; she wasn't going to lose him!_

_He coughed up blood, he tried to speak. Ben was at his side, encouraging him, trying to tell him he'd be okay._

_"Ben, take care of Gwen…you have to promise me," he wheezed._

_"I will," Ben told him._

_"Kevin, you can't die! I won't let you die!" Gwen felt the panic overwhelm her. It was the same every time, she would always lose him. Still, she tried, hoping that somehow the dream would become a reality and he wouldn't die this time._

_"Gwen…Gwen…" he tried to tell her goodbye, tried to get everything he wanted to say out loud, but he couldn't find the voice. The light was fading, it was time to go._

_"Kevin! __Kevin!__" Gwen burst into tears and began screaming._

"_Dammit! Dammit!" her agonizing cries of grief terrified the Forever Knights. They had unleashed Hell upon themselves._

"_Merchcus Veridactus!"_

_The power ripped out from her hands and exploded, tearing Forever Knights apart, killing them instantly. Ben was knocked unconscious. The only one left was the man who killed Kevin. Gwen trapped him in a barrier of Manna and began beating him and kicking him. Her hands found their way around the Knight's throat and with her tremendous strength, snapped his neck. _

'_Gwen, stop!" Ben called to her. "That's enough."_

"_What—what did I do?" Gwen gazed at her cousin in horror. _

"_Gwen, you killed them, you lost it and killed them," Ben said. "I can't justify it any other way."_

"_Take my badge, my days as a Plumber are over," Gwen tried to give it to him._

"_No, the only ones who know about this are you and me. If the truth comes out I'll tell them I did it. We have to go and…tell Kevin's mother what happened." _

_Gwen turned her attention back to Kevin's lifeless body, and gasped in terror as Kevin's eyes shot open, no longer were they the eyes of her sweet, endearing boyfriend, they were the eyes of a mindless madman. It was just the way it was before when he'd absorbed the Ultimatrix. Except this time, he was in his human form. The unknown power that she couldn't understand or explain seared through his veins. It took all the good things about him and even his feelings for her and twisted them into something ugly._

"_You betrayed me! How long was it before you forgot all about me? How long was it before he became the center of your thoughts instead of me?"_

"_Jason's my friend. Kevin, I would never forget you!"_

"_Liar! "I'm going to take everything from you, just like it was taken from me! It's what you deserve!"_

_He was draining her power, the agonizing scream that tore from her throat only made it worse. She couldn't fight back, and no one was coming to save her. Kevin Levin was going to kill her…_

Gwen's eyes snapped open as she screamed, waking in a cold sweat. She calmed her breathing and wiped the perspiration off her face. It was just a dream. She would be fine in the morning.

Jason…why did she talk about Jason in her dream? She'd kissed him, but that was more of an impulse than anything.

_I love you…_

She'd heard him say it, and he'd truly meant it, he wasn't very good at expressing his emotions, he told her that he'd always had a hard time talking to Batman about his problems.

Gwen saw his vulnerability, his weakness. His bad temper and shades of gray morals made hero work difficult for him. His impulse to lash out and brash recklessness were also his shortcomings that needed to be fixed.

He was torn between his desire to be a hero, to protect and serve and the instinct to kill the evil people who committed atrocious crimes. He was teetering on the brink and she needed to pull him back before he took a dark path that would eventually destroy the good man that he wanted to be.

The more time they spent together, the closer they became, after homework and saving the world, well she saved the world, he politely declined involving himself in Plumbers activities, they would do nothing but talk for hours and hours about everything.

She'd gotten him to open up about his time as Robin and feeling the pressure of trying to live up to everyone else's expectations of him in that role, of having to deal with Batman's criticisms of him when he lost his temper and went a little too far on the battlefield.

"Jason, did you kill Felipe Garzonas, that diplomat's son?"

"I startled him and he slipped. I couldn't grab him in time."

"Knowing you, you'd lie through your teeth to my face."

"Gwen!" Jason seemed indignant. "I'm being honest, I swear to God!"

"Even if you couldn't save him, you feel that he deserved it."

"He raped a girl and was going to get away with it because of diplomatic immunity. He also coerced the girl into committing suicide! Scum deserved what happened to him, but I didn't throw him off the roof!"

"Jason, just because he did terrible things doesn't mean you or I have any right to go kill them."

"I know that," he let loose a frustrated sigh, "It's just it seems like it would be better if the bad people would drop dead."

"it would, but we protect people, we don't kill them. That's not our call."

"I understand that, but it's just…hard."

"Kevin once thought like you do, but if you learn to control your bad temper and stop being so angry, you'll be better for it."

"I just wish it were easier," Jason sighed.

"Nothing in life is ever easy; you of all people should know that."

"You're right. Well, I have to get going," Jason told her. "I have some errands I have to run."

Jason headed toward a secret base he'd converted from an abandoned warehouse district.

He dismounted from his motorcycle and entered the warehouse. After so long, he was finally ready to return to the vigilante lifestyle. He opened the box he'd received containing his new helmet. It had plenty of good features including a radio and his domino mask had night vision in it, along with being made of the finest metal alloys and being bullet proof, he also had a failsafe mechanism that would weaponize his mask if he needed to.

His new weapon had also arrived, it was a knife called a Kris, or Keris, and it was a very unique blade because of its strange curves and design, it was a stabbing weapon, and it was also very lethal. It was also one of the few weapons that could cut through Batman's utility belt, having it would come in handy if he ever had to fight his old mentor for some reason.

He put on his blue jeans and his body armor, which was made of the finest materials available. It was expensive too, cost him $45,000.

He put the bright red domino mask in place over his eyes. He placed his red mask over his face and pushed the button on the back to close it. He was ready to go.

He got onto his Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle, it was used, but it was definitely in good shape. He knew that it could be traced if he bought it new, besides, he didn't want to be found, but he didn't have time to get the latest gadgets for his bike. He was ordering special equipment from Kord Industries, along with other toys.

He heard the engine roar as he revved it up and he drove out of the warehouse. He'd been keeping eye on the extra-net, studying the people he'd be fighting. He'd also kept his eyes and ears open for any criminal activity. He'd concocted a deal for the Forever Knights that they couldn't refuse and he had told them that he had a shipment of alien tech to sell them.

Ben and Gwen had caught word of an illegal alien tech deal involving the Forever Knights and they arrived, Ben jumping down from a building to land in front of them.

"We've been tricked!" the Knight glared at the figure above them. Ben realized they weren't looking at him, and he gazed up and saw a man in a mask. He was dressed in jeans and a leather coat and gray body armor. He was also on a large motorcycle on top of the roof.

"Of course you have," the helmeted figure told them. Ben had never seen him before.

"So you're the Red Hood," the Forever Knight observed.

Red Hood crossed his arms, "Very astute. What was your first clue?"

"Some kind of vigilante then," Ben frowned. "Whose side are you on?"

"It doesn't really matter, as long as I stop the bad guys."

Ben saw the motorcycle and heard the engine rev as the figure, beyond all expectation, rode down the wall! He heard the tires screeching and saw the figure land on the ground, pulling the bike to a halt.

The figure somersaulted while removing a pair of pistols from holsters.

"Forever Knights, say hello to the Desert Eagle Mark XIX!" Red Hood shouted. "And just for kicks, you get two!"

Ben was impressed, he'd seen those guns before, but they were usually only dual wielded in the movies, because the kickback was so strong, and you had to hold them with both hands normally. There was only one conclusion: This guy was awesome or crazy. He remembered a video on YouTube where a lady hit herself in the face with a Desert Eagle because of the kickback.

Gwen decided it would be a good idea to stay out of the 656 feet firing range as much as possible; hopefully this guy could actually shoot straight and not hit her or Ben.

Forever Knights hit the floor, clutching their legs and shoulders as they were shocked that gunfire penetrated their armor. They were so used to advanced technology that they had forgotten all about good old American ammunition.

Just as soon as it began, it was over. Ben realized he'd have to get medical attention for the Forever Knights before they bled out. Gwen saw the vigilante pulling away and speeding off into the night.

"Gwen go get him! I'll handle this!" Ben called for Plumber's back up and asked for a medical team to treat all the gunshot wounds. Whoever this guy was, he was going to stir up a whole lot of trouble.

Gwen managed to find the red Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle, speeding down the highway, she saw it pull off into an abandoned warehouse district and she pursued, getting off the semi truck she had been riding on.

She had decided to search under and overpass, hoping she'd see him riding past her.

There was a loud roar, she saw the Red Hood on a red Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle practically landing on her. She saw him coming and raised her gun and fired. Being a Plumber, she had her firearm with her, just in case she needed it for backup, she'd modified it so it fired bullets instead of lasers because Kevin had found a way to modify bullets so they would be unaffected by laser shields.

Two bullets went through his hand and Gwen quickly sent him flying backward as she kicked him away with a flip.

Jason grunted she was good; he'd managed to find a place to hide. The bullet had gone through his hand; he could bandage it without too much effort. Still, it hurt a lot, but fortunately he had some high end field bandages to seal it off.

He quickly bandaged his hand and stepped into view.

Gwen was about to attack him, but saw him point the gun at her, he aimed toward a tall building and fired, she realized it was a grapple gun.

"Come on, it's a nice night for a run!"

Being trained by Bruce, he'd not only mastered martial arts, but acrobatics as well, along with le parkour and free running. He was curious to see if Gwen could keep up with him.

She followed him up to the roof, using her Manna to create steps for her to climb. She saw him leap from one rooftop the next, using somersaults to break his fall. He was good, he was like those people who filmed themselves and put it up on the internet for people to see.

He kept moving, leaping from rooftop to rooftop without even breaking a sweat. He came to an open stairway and instead of running down the stairs, he leapt through the railings and began running toward the entrance of the building. He fired the grappling gun and once again took to the rooftop.

Gwen followed, getting up on the roof before he did.

"You aren't going anywhere!"

"Just watch me!" he laughed. He jumped off the roof, landed on a railing and somersaulted off it, landing as he broke into a run. Gwen followed him, using her own acrobatics to keep up. She landed a short distance away, and began looking for him.

Gwen froze. She felt the cold steel of the blade against her neck. Her eyes glanced down to see the strangely designed weapon dangerously close to cutting her.

"Hey, did you honestly think you could just follow me around and I wouldn't notice?" Jason smiled under his mask, the fact that she kept up with him was impressive.

"I'm not sure I like a guy who runs around shooting guns and throwing knives at people," she looked at him. The expression on his face was hidden, but she didn't need to see him to know he was amused.

"I didn't kill anyone, so you can relax."

Managing to shove him away, she assumed a fighting stance and he began to laugh. "Cute!"

"I suppose me with my Kris is hardly fair. How 'bout I give you a handicap?"

He tossed her a Bo staff. She caught it and stared. "You expect me to fight you with this."

"Of course! You take Taekwondo, Jujitsu, and karate; you have to have some weapons training in all that don't you lovely Gwen? Let's see how you do!"

"You know too much about my life."

"I know everything about you."

"Are you my personal stalker?" Gwen asked.

"No, just a guy who can't resist a pretty girl," Red Hood chortled.

"You don't take any of this seriously do you, I'll find out who you are."

"I'm sure you will," Jason said.

"Tell me what you're doing here!"

"Let's flip a coin," Red Hood took out a silver dollar, he flipped it with his fingers. "Heads I tell you. Tails we go out on a date."

They began to fight, the staff whizzed through the air, clashing with his Kris, Gwen recalled hearing about the strange weapon and that it was supposed to give the user good luck. The irony, this was not his lucky night. And there was no way she was going to go out on a date with him.

They fought for a few minutes, but it was a very deadly battle. Gwen kept avoiding the slashing attacks aimed at her head and kept hitting him in the ribs, which she felt, was useless because she realized he was wearing body armor.

She decided to aim for his head and began elbowing him hitting him with the staff across his masked face. Jason felt his head ringing; he was starting to get dizzy and felt his feet fly out from under him.

"You're not getting out of here, not until I find out who you are," Gwen said, holding the staff to his neck.

"That's _really _not up to you," Red Hood told her.

"Well you're in for a surprise," Gwen was about ready to use her powers to pin him against the wall.

"I'm not the only one…I'm not sure if it's my speed or the sharpness of the blade…but most don't even _feel _it go in."

"Oh crap!" she exclaimed, looking down at her shoulder. How had_ that_ happened? She hadn't even seen it leave his hand. The pain, it hit her and she could feel it through her whole body. The pain was so bad, she started to cry.

She tried to pull it out. Gwen was horrified; she was pinned to the wall!

"Stop struggling. That knife isn't coming out of that wall. Not at the angle you're at."

Jason leaned forward, placing his elbow against the wall, looking thoughtful.

"Choice time. I can pull that out and you can run away as fast as you can. Or I can pull that blade down all the way from your shoulder to your hip. It'll hurt like fire for fifteen minutes, then you'll be dead from blood loss."

He felt a little bad that he'd used the knife, but he had hoped to get away without being unmasked. He supposed he owed it to her to tell her the truth, and fix her up. He pulled out the knife and placed a bandage over the open wound.

"That's a fairly far-end field dressing for the modern soldier," Red Hood explained. "It adheres as well as closes the wound with an antibacterial adhesive agent…Stops the bleeding cold."

Gwen fell to the floor, exhaustion hitting her in a wave; she tried to steady the field dressing and nearly lost it.

Jason draped himself over her body. She was breathing heavily from sweating after their fight. He placed his gloved hand over the bandage and held it in place. He made sure it would stay. Between the angry expression on her face and the fact that she had been crying, he couldn't really read what mood she was in.

"C'mon, up," he ordered. "This is the part where you try to stop me and I beat the hell out of you."

"I thought you were supposed to be on my side."

"What can I say? Moral ambiguity is fun, but," he shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "If you want to be technical about it, yes, I'm on your side."

All he got was a glare from her. Jason chuckled; he did like the look in her eyes when she was angry.

"Ah, would you look at that," he showed her the silver dollar he flipped earlier. "It's tails. I guess it's a date then."

"Please let me up off the floor, and stop crushing me with your weight! My shoulder really hurts!"

"No, I think I'm comfy down here, how 'bout you?"

"Get off me!" Gwen growled, much to her dismay she could not move her hands and legs, she just wished she was in a better position so she could groin shot him real good.

He used his gloved fingers to wipe the tears from her eyes; he really did feel bad for making her cry.

"Well, I've had my fun playing games, so I might as well tell you who I am," Jason pushed the button on the back of his Red Hood mask so the back would come off so he could remove it. His arm slipped around her waist.

Gwen's eyes widened in surprise. "Jason!" She was angry; he hurt her and lied to her. What was he getting at? Did he think this was a game?

"Why are you surprised? You knew I lived a double life before, did you think I'd just go back to a normal life after I recovered?"

She couldn't say anything. Jason looked at her and turned her to face him. He smiled and pressed his mouth to hers.

There was silence between them when he pulled away and he wondered what was on her mind.

"Sorry for the knife, baby, but I had to keep up the charade."

"You're not acting very sorry. Will you let me up now?"

"Yeah, get up," he helped her to her feet.

What's that look on your face for?"

"Oh, for this," Gwen swiftly brought her knee up and slammed it right between Jason's legs. He doubled over and groaned in pain.

"The groin. Why is it always the groin?" His voice pitched up a few octaves.

"Because that's what you deserved you jerkass, you stabbed me in the shoulder with a knife!"

"Hey, if I went easy on you, that wouldn't have been fair would it? Besides, I wouldn't let you die."

"You say one more word, I'll kick you again, a whole lot harder too."

"That's fine with me," Jason conceded wanting to keep his reproductive system intact and the pain was starting to subside a little.

"Why do you have to act like such a pervert?"

"Honestly Gwen, all men are perverts, or do you not read TV Tropes?" Jason laughed.

"Not all of them, and yes I have heard of TV Tropes."

"Oh yes, even your former boyfriend, I heard about his little joke about Ben and Jennifer Nocturne."

"It also says I kiss my cousin," Gwen told him. He gave her a startled look.

"What?"

"Just go look it up, our pictures on there for some reason."

"You should probably go home now," Jason told her. "I'll see you at school tomorrow."

"You have a lot of nerve acting like it's no big deal that you stabbed me in the shoulder!"

"Are you still mad at me? You can heal that can't you?"

"I think so, but you didn't have to go so far with your charade."

"So these are your after school activities, huh?" Gwen raised an eyebrow at him.

"Yeah, you could say that," Jason laughed.

"Hey! What's going on here?" Ben Tennyson demanded as he entered the area at a full run.

"Jason?" he stared at Gwen's wound. "What'd you do to Gwen?"

"I got a little carried away in our fight."

"If I'd have been here—" Ben began.

"—You wouldn't have let that happen, I know. She'll get better, don't worry."

"Listen, you play by our rules, or I'll put you down real quick," Ben warned him.

"I could like that about you, you seem far too nice," Jason laughed. He didn't know Ben had a dark side.

"I would try but she'd probably not let me."

Ah, so Gwen kept him in check. Jason was also not surprised. She was a good kid, but tended to be too trusting of other people.

"I have to get home," Ben sighed, "I got a big interview tomorrow and I have to get some sleep. But if you ever do anything like that to Gwen again, I'll beat your face in."

"Who's coming over tomorrow?" Jason asked.

"Clark Kent from the Daily Planet, he said they want to interview me," Ben told him.

Much to his surprise, Jason began to laugh.

"I think that's the best thing I've ever heard you say!"

He walked away, still chuckling. Clark sure did have a sense of humor. The Last Son of Krypton and the Alien Hero both in the same room. He hadn't seen Clark in years, not since he rescued him from Mongul with Batman and Wonder Woman on his birthday. Worst birthday party ever. He had to go home; after all, he did have school tomorrow.

Gwen looked at Ben in confusion. "What's so funny?"

"I have no idea."

* * *

**Author's Note: **I hope you all found the Cowboy Bebop references. Hee-hee!


	5. First Strike

**First Strike**

_Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth. – __**Oscar Wilde**_

_**Author's Notes:**__ Nothing much to say except, the Teen Titans fans shall squee. The best fist fight I've ever written shall ensue. RoseAerin, your review made me smile, because, yes, Jason is a volatile jerk, but that's what makes him so much fun to write. And he's fond of mind games too. Crank up the song "Pushing the Sky" from Cowboy Bebop and reading this chapter will be more fun._

"So you can actually kill him?" Vilgax asked.

"Of course, that is what I do for a living," the man smirked under his mask, crossing his arms.

"I'm giving you a blank check, you may write whatever number in you wish, but you must bring me Ben Tennyson's dead body in order to receive your payment."

"Understood," he said. "I've never fought the alien hero before, this should be fun."

"Do not fail me, Slade Wilson," Vilgax snarled, "If it weren't for my injuries, I'd kill him myself, instead of having to hire you. Since you are the master assassin Deathstroke, killing him shouldn't be too hard for you."

"I aim to please, I might have fun with this one, I have heard rumors that his cousin is a fine martial artist; I wonder how long she'd last against me?"

"Do whatever you want with the girl, just bring me Ben Tennyson's corpse."

"Fine," Slade said, walking away. Looks like he would be able to indulge himself in a little fun after all.

* * *

Gwen was walking to her car, getting ready to go to karate practice when she sensed someone following her. That wasn't good. She sensed the incoming sniper shot and shielded herself from it.

Bullets. Bullets were bad. That was an understatement, at least with the lasers you could see them coming. This wasn't good.

Ducking behind a corner, Gwen looked around. She didn't see anyone. She heard her phone ringing and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Hello lovely Gwen," the voice told her. "You're one of the few people in the world who can block my sniper shots."

"Who are you and how did you get my cell phone number?"

"It's quite simple. People call me Deathstroke, or Slade, they used to call me the Terminator, but I dropped that. You really shouldn't laugh. I am the man who's going to kill you."

"What? I can't even make an "I'll be back" joke?" she quipped.

The line went dead.

She had to ditch this guy as soon as possible. Gwen sprinted through the street, trying to sense the next shot; this guy was good; she swore that he was running after her and that he kept getting closer and closer. He was fast, and it got worse from there.

This was so much worse than when she had to fight Kevin, she wished it _was_ Kevin instead of this guy. Gwen managed to make her way toward a warehouse. She managed to find a place to hide.

She heard Slade enter the room and began looking around.

Gwen felt her heart stop. Seeing him up close was truly terrifying. He was her personal one-eyed Satan coming to drag her off to hell, at least, that's what it felt like anyway.

"Come on out lovely Gwen, it's time I got to meet you in person. I've heard plenty about you, and it sounds like you could be a whole lot of fun."

For once, she was glad she was not wearing her high heels, as those would not be good for martial arts practice because it wasn't easy to balance in them when kicking.

She had to keep him busy and formulate a strategy to get away from him. He'd put away his guns so obviously, he intended to fight her one on one.

"Looks like I've got you," Gwen told him, she'd trapped him in a barrier, but this guy wasn't going to just give up. She had to stay on her toes with him. If she screwed up, she might end up dead, and that was not something she wanted.

"Actually Gwen, I've got you," Slade smashed through the barrier and tossed up a small explosive that brought the wall behind her crashing down, blocking off the only exit.

_Great, just great, creep has me cornered, and he's definitely not friendly. _She tried to wing it with a plan. _This guy is way better than me, and he has a sword!_

"Don't worry, I'm just here to talk," Slade told her.

Gwen smirked. Oh right, talking actually meant beating the pulp out of her, what a _nice_ conversation this was going to be. Her shoulder was finally healed and it just had to get better just so she could get hurt again. What a crappy day this was.

"Mind if I talk with my hands?" she retorted, moving quickly to meet him in hand to hand combat.

A quick flurry of punches and kicks. Whoever Slade was, she really wished she wasn't fighting him. Gwen was fighting for her life, and using everything she knew to stay alive. She launched a flying kick and he avoided it only to have an open palm slammed into his masked face.

The retaliation blow to her stomach knocked the wind out of her. Gwen staggered back and kept moving as Slade kept punching and kicking. Metal treads smacked into her forehead as his boot connected with her face.

Flying back she managed to get to her feet and use her powers to pick up the mercenary and slam him through the wall. She was about to throw him across the room when he suddenly slammed his hand down and chopped through her Manna.

Two fists twisted and swung toward her head. Gwen raised her arms and blocked them only to be kicked in the midsection. Landing on her back, she saw him as he moved over her and prepared to kick her in the face. Grabbing his leg, she twisted it sharply and he backed away.

In one motion, Gwen rose up and smashed her palm into his face, and followed up by a high back kick. She kept kicking him anywhere that she could hit and it seemed to be working.

Slade was getting angry, this girl was better than he thought; maybe he should have just gone after her cousin. He smashed his elbow into her face and saw that she was startled. He landed some solid punches into her ribs and Gwen spat up some saliva. Gwen prayed they weren't cracked, but they probably were.

She executed a roundhouse kick and as he was recovering from the blow she backhanded him across the face. She tried to attack him again but found she had leaned too far forward and he pinned her left wrist behind her back.

"Let. Go. Of. My. Arm." Gwen repeatedly elbowed him in the face until she felt him let go of her. Turning around she saw Slade's mask fall off revealing a man who was much older than she was with white hair, a goatee, a blue eye with the other covered by an eye patch.

"You know, you're scarier with the mask on," Gwen looked at him. She couldn't tell how old he was. He looked like he could be her father's age, maybe he was in his forties, but with white hair, she couldn't really tell.

"Don't make me hurt you!"

"Don't make me laugh! Child, you have no idea who you're dealing with," Slade glared at her. "I think it's time I stopped playing around. You deserve it because while you're not as good as me you do have potential. A few more years of training and you could actually scratch me."

"Stop playing mind games. What do you want?"

"I have a contract on your cousin, that's all."

"Then why are you fighting me?" Gwen questioned.

"Because I've heard you're good, and it's too much fun not to."

A streak of Manna slammed into him, gripping him and smashing his head into the ceiling. Gwen began running, she needed to get out of here and warn Ben. Still, she needed a weapon. Spotting a case of golf clubs, she grabbed the five iron.

"Where are you?" Slade roared. He was going to kill that little brat.

"Four!"

Slade felt searing pain shoot through his kneecaps as hard metal smashed into them. Stupid kid, kneecapping him with a golf club.

Gwen stared in shock, Slade's body was resilient, she broke the five iron on her first hit.

She had to keep him busy, quickly activating her Plumber's badge and punching in a distress code.

"You've kept up so far, but it's only been ten minutes. I can wear you out and not even break a sweat."

Slade watched as he saw projectiles come flying at him. It was Manna shaped like shuriken. One of them embedded itself into his leg. He gave her the most terrifying smile Gwen had ever seen.

"Cute!" He ripped it out of his leg and crushed it in his hand. "And that's exactly what I'm going to do to your head!"

He unsheathed his sword and attacked. Gwen had to user all her skills in and acrobatics to stay away from him, it wasn't able to avoid all of them and felt the blade cut her face.

"I'm not going to stop cutting you, besides; it's the little cuts that sting more."

Gwen tried to ignore the pain and kept on avoiding him. She managed to grab his wrist and took the weapon from him. She drove the sword into his leg and watched the blood spurt out.

The expression of his face was a mixture of amusement and disdain.

"Not bad, but if you're going to stab me with my own sword, do it for real!" Gripping her wrist he pulled her hand back, pulling the Promethium blade out of his leg and slammed it into his chest.

"See? It hurts more," the mercenary smirked. He pulled the sword out and wiped it clean, putting it back in the sheath.

How was he not dead yet? What _was _he anyway? Not that she'd wanted to kill him, but being stabbed in the chest usually meant that you died. Gwen had to keep fighting, had to stall just a little longer for Ben to get there, but she'd been fighting for fifteen minutes and every muscle in her body burned.

"Don't think I don't know what you've done. I've studied you for quite some time. You make good grades in school while you save the world with your cousin. I even know that Kevin Levin was your boyfriend."

"Anyone could learn that about me through the internet."

"But I know your secret, little girl. You lost your little boyfriend, and killed everyone who had anything to do with it. If you weren't so merciful to your opponents he wouldn't have died."

_Don't listen to him, he's trying to get in your head, ignore him,_ Gwen couldn't let him get to her. He loved to mindscrew with people he fought and if she could keep her head on straight she might be able to get away.

"Shut up! Just shut up and leave me alone! I'm not some sad little girl you can control, you manipulative bastard!"

"Didn't your parents tell you to watch your mouth? You remind me of someone I knew a long time ago, she was a lot like you," Slade seemed to smile. "You even sound like her too."

"Don't really understand what you're saying, but you're not going to kill Ben."

"Oh, but I am, as soon as I'm finished with you."

"You've got a really creepy thing for teens you know that?"

"So I've heard."

"Tempestus Impaetus!" Gwen summoned down lightening.

The huge bolt hit Slade hard, and it seemed to stun him.

"Silicus Milez Sositatio!" Gwen managed to summon Charmcaster's rock monsters.

"Rock monsters!" Slade exclaimed. "How nostalgic!"

"You've seen them before?" Gwen had to wonder what he was talking about.

"Not exactly, let's just say that someone with the power of Geokinesis used to work for me. Not that she could control it, but you on the other hand, could be very useful. You could work for me."

He paused for a moment and attacked the monsters with his sword, shattering them to pieces in less than thirty seconds. Gwen finally caught her breath long enough to give him a retort.

"Yeah, well, working for you would really suck!"

Slade twisted her arm around and pinned her face down on the floor.

"Now let's see you cast those spells you little bi—argh!"

She pushed his wrist back, "Kellecki Erock!"

Spikes of rock shot up from the floor and into Slade's knees. She grabbed him and threw him across the room. Gwen decided that there was only one thing she could do in this situation. She turned and ran.

Teleporting through the wall, she began running down the street, if only she could get back to her car. She didn't see him anywhere and quickly made her way to where her car was parked, only to see Slade picking it up and throwing it at her!

There was no way she could possibly block that but she had to try. Putting all her concentration into her attack and caught the car, she sent it flying straight back at him.

Slade smiled, calmly took out his sword, and slice through Kevin's car with one hand.

Gwen ran and rounded a corner; she ducked into the nearest building and hid in the storage closet. She was breathing hard and wiping sweat and blood off her forehead. She heard heavy boots clanking. How could he find her? This wasn't good at all. Slade swung the door open.

"Congratulations, Gwen," Slade hauled her up from her hiding place by her throat. "You almost got away, and you would have to, if I hadn't been able to smell your sweat."

A weapon. She needed a weapon. All saw was the pen on the table near her. It would have to do, but she'd improvise.

"Well Tennyson, have any last words to say before I snap your neck?" Slade gloated.

"Yeah, I hope you like my pen!" Gwen shoved the pen into Slade's empty right eye socket. She would have gone for his left but she couldn't reach that far.

Howling in pain, Slade released Gwen only to viciously kick in her in the face. He raised his fist and prepared to pummel her to a bloody pulp.

"Gwen!"

She turned and saw Ben, as a very large and angry Humungousaur, gripping Slade's arm.

He was shocked to see his cousin in such bad condition. She was covered in blood and her clothes were ripped up, even more than normal. It was like the Rail Tracer had stepped off the Flying Pussyfoot and into the real world. The description seemed silly, but accurate; he'd been watching too much Baccano lately.

He'd been busy that day, he was going to meet up with Gwen but he had been in an interview with Clark Kent from the Daily Planet when he'd received her distress signal. He'd found her by tracking the signal on her Plumber's badge.

"So, who's the creepy guy?" Ben asked curiously. It was obvious that he was one of the bad guys he'd have to beat.

"Name's Slade, said he came here to kill you," Gwen's explanation was quick and simple. She ducked by Slade and started limping out of the building.

"Don't worry Gwen, I'll handle this Slade guy from here, get to the hospital now!" Ben reassured her.

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm gonna kick his face in."

_**Author's Note: **__I think I lampshaded a certain Teen Titans character a little too much, but voice acting allusions for the win. _

_And yes, in the comics, Slade can _RUN_ 30 miles per hour; he's also 6 foot 4 and has retard aging, which means he ages very slowly, and he won't die. If you took all Slade's comic book powers and give them to his animated counterpart, he really is much more terrifying. _

_Watched a certain fight in the Cowboy Bebop movie to get this fight scene right, and rewatched some Teen Titans just to refresh my memories. I wonder when the squeeing will stop._


	6. Swap Meat

**Swap Meat**

_**Author's Note: **__There will not be Gwevin pairing in this fan fic. Gwen/Jason will stay, If you want Gwevin, I have a few fan fics with that as the main pairing. Also, within this chapter, all the statements about Jason's various affiliations are from the comics. The reason people won't know is because you'd have to have read the comics to find out what he did._

_So I bet you're all wondering, what does Jason's voice sound like? If you've seen Batman: Under the Red Hood, Jason's voiced as an adult by Jensen Ackles, so that's the voice I hear when I write all the dialogue._

_Jason's also getting his own series from DC Comics! YAY! He's going to lead a team and work with Starfire and Arsenal, AKA Speedy! Comes out in September! Red Hood and the Outlaws is going to be fun.  
_

* * *

Gwen called Jason on her cell phone as she sunk to the ground outside the building. She was far too exhausted to teleport herself to the hospital. Jason who had been out on patrol, drove his motorcycle to her location.

"Gwen! What happened?"

"A mercenary named Slade said he had a contract on Ben, he came after me because it amused him somehow."

"Damn it!" Jason growled. Slade was not one of the people he wanted to see.

"I take it you know who he is."

"Yeah, unfortunately. I can get you to the hospital," Jason told her.

Gwen shooed him back. "Go help Ben, I can walk," Gwen winced and nearly toppled over.

Jason caught her, "No you can't; I'm getting you to the hospital."

"Ben's in danger, go help him!" Gwen insisted.

"For someone with a level head, you're being awfully stubborn."

Jason sighed, "Fine, I'll call a friend to get you to the hospital, but you have to promise me you'll stay there until you get better."

"Who are you calling? Julie?" Gwen asked.

"No, someone faster than Julie," Jason dialed a phone number. He put it on speaker as he got out some bandages and gauze to help Gwen clean off some of the blood from her face.

"Jump City Doughnuts, may I take your order?" a voice asked playfully on the other end.

"Still ever the clown Wally," Jason sighed.

"Holy…holy crap, Jay is that you?" Wally asked. "When did you become not dead? And how did you remember my phone number? I have to tell the others—"

"No Wally, you can't, I'm not ready yet, I'm just calling in a favor, as a former Teen Titan."

"Former _leader_, you mean, you led us on that mission against Cheshire once. You weren't too shabby. Then you helped us take down Brother Blood, so you were good."

"I froze on that mission, stop sucking up," Jason snapped. "I need you to get my girlfriend to the hospital, she got hurt pretty bad."

"You _led_ the Teen Titans?" Gwen asked, surprised. Well, he had been Robin, but he just didn't seem like the leader type. The Teen Titans were famous among teens her age, she'd read about them online and in the papers, but had never met any of them in person.

"It was a short stint," Jason explained. "I wasn't on too many missions."

"A girlfriend? Lucky you," Wally laughed. "I'll be there in a second."

Within seconds, he appeared, coming to a stop in front of Gwen. He gave Jason a big grin.

"I didn't know you liked redheads, Dick rubbed off on you I see," he laughed. Jason gave him a very firm elbow in the ribs.

"Okay, okay, I know when I need to stop," Wally conceded. "So what's your name beautiful?"

"Gwen Tennyson," she told him. He was a funny guy, he reminded her of Ben.

"Call me Kid Flash. Well Gwen, once I get you to the hospital and you get better, you can show me around this nice town of yours."

"No time to mess around, I have to stop Slade before he kills Ben," Jason said.

"She fought _Slade_?" Wally asked, surprised. "You are one lucky girl."

"That's an irony," Gwen muttered. "I did not feel lucky today."

"But you are, most people he goes after end up dead. You deserve a trophy."

"Don't know when that will happen, I still have to heal myself. Jason, go help Ben!"

"But Gwen I—"

"Please just go," Gwen summoned her Manna and shoved him away. Jason ran toward the building. Kid Flash was impressed. Then again, she did mention healing herself.

"Wally, get her to the hospital. I have to go kick nine kinds of Hell out of Slade!"

Jason turned back to her, "I've called your mother and told her you'll be in the hospital. She said she's on her way!"

"Well, let's get you to the hospital," Kid Flash scooped her up and sped her off to the hospital. Needless to say the emergency room staff was surprised.

"Thanks for bringing me here, although I could have walked."

"With cracked ribs, I don't think so, you looked like you stepped out of Wicked Scary, I really don't mind," he said. He looked over at a discarded Time Magazine that didn't have an address on the back that belonged to the hospital. He picked it up; there was a picture of Ben 10 on the front cover.

"Ooh, souvenir!" he exclaimed.

"Have you always been this weird?" Gwen asked.

"Aw, I'm not weird I'm just quirky."

"You know, you didn't have to send Jay off to help this Ben guy…Wait, do you mean him?" Kid Flash asked, pointing at Ben's picture. "Do you mean to tell me that you're related to Ben Tennyson?"

"I'm his cousin," Gwen told him.

"This may sound really silly, but could you get me his autograph?" Kid Flash asked.

"Well, I'll see what I can do for you," Gwen laughed, "Ow, my ribs hurt." The Doctors came in and finally took her in to check on her.

"You don't have to stay," Gwen told him as he stood nearby watching her.

"I don't, but knowing Jay, he'd yell at me if I just up and left you here."

Gwen's mother came running in. "Gwenny, are you all right? What happened to you? You're covered in blood!"

"I got in a real bad fight mom, it was a mercenary who tried to kill Ben," Gwen explained as calmly as possible.

Natalie broke down and cried. She didn't understand why this was happening, but to have someone going after both her daughter and her nephew was hard on her.

"Everything will be all right, Mrs. Tennyson," the doctor reassured her. "She will recover from her injuries and should probably stay here a few days."

"Gwen, who—who is this?" Natalie asked, staring at Kid Flash in surprise. She'd seen pictures of him in the paper, but never in person.

"That's Kid Flash; he helped me get to the hospital."

"I did it as a favor for a friend," Kid Flash told her.

"Thank you, I don't know how I can repay you," Natalie was very grateful to the young hero for helping her daughter.

"Where's Ben?" Natalie asked.

"He's taking on the guy who went after her, and if I know the guy who's with him, I'm sure they'll both be fine."

Knowing Jason as he did, he was sure he'd do his best to stop Slade, he and Ben both. He knew he should help, but Jason would insist that someone stay with Gwen to protect her while she healed, so he chose that latter, if Jason complained, he could always bring up the "she didn't have anyone watching her" excuse, so he'd keep watch. Everything would turn out fine.

_Two Hours Earlier…_

Ben heard the doorbell ring and quickly answered the door. The man he saw was the most ordinary looking fellow he'd seen in awhile, decently tall with a pair of glasses.

"Is this the residence of Ben Tennyson?" Clark asked.

"Yes, yes, that's me," Ben replied.

"My name's Clark Kent, I hope to get the inside scoop on the alien hero," Clark laughed. "At least, so the Daily Planet could ride the wave of Will Harague."

"Oh, I see, won't you sit down?" Ben invited the man inside his house. He seemed to be a pleasant person, Clark Kent.

They began the interview, Clark asked him about his personal life and hero work. He'd been talking to him for almost an hour when he saw his Plumber's badge flashing.

"Looks like I'll have to cut your interview short Clark. I have an emergency I have to handle," Ben got up and shook the reporter's hand. "Hero time, you understand."

"Of course I understand; I have more than enough material for my article. Thanks for your time."

Ben left and Clark walked out and watched him jump into his car.

"I know how it feels, kid," Clark decided it was time to leave; besides, Bellwood had its own hero, it wouldn't be right for him to steal the limelight. He got into his car and drove back to Metropolis.

Ben floored it as fast as he could, pulling into park a distance away, he decided he'd go in on foot, not wanting to alert his enemy with the noise of the car.

He ran into the warehouse, slapping his fist down on the Ultimatrix. Fortunately, it gave him Humungousaur. He ran through the hallway, finding a man, standing over Gwen, ready to pound the pulp out of her. "Gwen!"

"So, who's the creepy guy?" Ben asked curiously. It was obvious that he was one of the bad guys he'd have to beat.

"Name's Slade, said he came here to kill you," Gwen's explanation was quick and simple. She ducked by Slade and started limping out of the building.

"Don't worry Gwen, I'll handle this Slade guy from here, get to the hospital now!" Ben reassured her.

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm gonna kick his face in."

Humungousaur gripped Slade's shoulders and began sprinting, slamming the superhuman mercenary through the wall. "Not bad, but I'm not going to take it easy on you!"

Slade kicked Ben across the chest and Ben stepped back. Humungousaur kept up a barrage of blows and was shocked that Slade wasn't even fazed by his attack.

Slade viciously slugged Ben across the face, repeatedly kicking him in the stomach. Ben managed to slap the Ultimatrix and changed into Chromastone.

He blasted him with his energy attack and Slade flew back, slamming into a wall. He got to his feet.

"Let's see if you can survive this," Slade casually tossed a bomb that exploded, sending pieces of Chromastone flying everywhere.

"That was too easy," Slade sneered. "If only I could bring Vilgax your head."

"So Vilgax sent you huh?" Ben asked. Slade looked down in surprise as vines wrapped themselves around his knees.

Ben came up out of the ground, transformed into Swampfire. He sprayed him with a stream of fire as Slade pulled out a sword and slashed the vines off his legs. He jumped back and prepared to attack.

Suddenly, someone kicked Slade across the face. Ben saw Jason opening fire on the mercenary.

"Nightwing?" Slade asked, no, this boy was not Dick Grayson. The fighting style was different, more aggressive. And Nightwing didn't use guns.

"No…wanna guess again?" Jason queried.

"Oh, I know who you are; I've heard rumors about a boy named Jason Levin, when I saw your picture, I was very surprised. I don't know how you did it Jason Todd, but you came back to life and seemed to have stepped off the reservation with all those nice guns you keep using."

"I know, I just thought it was time I moved on from my mentor's shadow. Took up guns to piss off the old boss."

"Well, that just means this will be more interesting, but I didn't come here for you. My job is to kill him," Slade gestured at a woozy Ben Tennyson.

"Sorry, he's a friend, I can't let you do that," Jason told him.

"Very well, I'll kill you, and then I'll kill him." He calmly removed a Katana from its sheath.

"Man, I gotta tell you...I really wish I could be watching this one ringside as well as fighting it...'cause it's gonna be good. I always wanted to see how I'd hold up against Deathstroke, the master assassin."

Jason attacked first; he had to keep Slade busy while Ben recovered. He couldn't formulate a plan; his opponent would be able to outmaneuver him in every way possible.

Jason moved quickly, the katana in his hand, their blades collided heavily. He kept his blade constantly moving, trying to gain an upper hand. But how could he beat a man who could outthink him before he even thought of what to do next?

Slade hacked at him with his sword, suddenly pulling out another and began attacking him furiously. The Red Hood managed to avoid one as it flew at him. It cut the sprinklers and set them off.

"The sprinklers went off, this'll be interesting," Red Hood said.

"Cute," Slade sneered.

Red Hood slashed at his enemy, he swung from right to left. Slade avoided the strike and stabbed at the Red Hood but he missed, the blade entered the leather jacket instead of his chest.

A vicious knee to the face had Jason reeling. The promethium sword cut into his mask; that was too close, had he not been wearing it, he would have ripped open his face.

Red Hood executed a handspring to avoid another swing. He felt something rip and pain in his side. Damn it, Deathstroke cut his utility belt off; he'd have to improvise something.

"As Batman's former sidekick, I expected more out of you," Slade told him. "You're a real disappointment."

"Oh, the fight hasn't started yet, I'm just stalling."

Jason's eyes widened and he suddenly jumped up. Slade looked up and found himself being run over by Cannonbolt. Slade managed to scramble to his feat as Ben reverted to his human form.

"You got a plan?" Ben inquired, back on his feet again.

"When it comes to him, don't plan anything. Fly by the seat of your pants. Improvise everything."

"I can do that," Ben slapped down the Ultimatrix and became Four Arms.

Slade thrust both swords into two of the arms. Ben hissed in pain but suddenly gripped the assassin's wrists and began slamming him into the floor.

The man flew back into the wall and crashed into another room. Ben removed the blades with is other arms and began brandishing them.

They began moving; flanking Slade on both sides, but the man had already pulled out two more swords.

"Where do those things come from? I didn't even see where he got them," Ben said.

"Hammerspace?" Jason joked.

Ben swung both swords, imitating the movies he enjoyed watching, but real swords were heavy and even with the immense strength of Four Arms, duel wielding was not easy.

Their enemy kept batting away their blows with such ease, Ben was starting to tire. This wasn't like fighting any of his villains. Sure all his villains had superpowers, and they were trying to kill him, but none of them could out strategize him, this guy was wiping the floor with him, and he knew it was only a matter of time before the Ultimatrix either malfunctioned or he get tired. Either way, it wasn't going to be pretty.

Jason swung his katana and Slade ducked, retaliating by bringing his foot across the Red Hood's masked face.

Ben barreled forward, slamming his head into Deathstroke's face. The man did stagger back, but Ben had a horrible headache.

"I really shouldn't do that," he groaned.

"Don't get distracted!" Red Hood shouted, he pushed the blade aside and stabbed Slade in the shoulder.

"I'm not!" he retorted. He took the sword in his chest and without even skipping a beat, drove his sword into Jason's side.

"Ah!" Jason groaned as the sword pushed through the Kevlar body armor and into his side. He fell back, unable to move. Ben jumped between the two of them. Suddenly, the door opened with a crash and Gwen came running in.

"Gwen, get him out of here! He's hurt! Go!" Ben ordered. Gwen scooped Jason and ran out the building.

"Hold on, Jason, just hold on. Don't you dare die on me!" Gwen breathed as she helped him onto his motorcycle. She fired it up and was about to drive off.

"Autopilot. Home." He had to get to his hideout soon, before he bled out and died. Again.


End file.
